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Wednesday News: Toxic cash

Submitted by BlueNC on Wed, 10/31/2018 - 08:35

GOP FUNNELS ALMOST A QUARTER-MILLION TO MIKE CAUSEY, WHO IS NOT RUNNING THIS YEAR: Causey had previously returned campaign donations from Lindberg and his wife, saying he did so out of an abundance of caution. He said he couldn't comment Tuesday when asked if he'd return the party's donation. He said there's "no doubt" people can say it doesn't look good. This is the largest political donation Causey has ever received. The timeline goes like this: In April 2017, Lindberg and his wife donated $10,000 to Causey's campaign. Causey said earlier this month that the donations came the same week he was due to meet with Lindberg about some of his insurance businesses. Causey returned the donations in May 2017. From September 2017 through May 2018 Lindberg donated $1.49 million to the state Republican Party. In July, the state Republican Party donated $240,000 to Causey's campaign.https://www.wral.com/lindberg-nc-gop-causey-complaint-alleges-campaign-finance-violations/17957873/

DUI KARMA WHEEL ROLLS OVER ANDY DULIN AND THE NC GOP: According to documents from Erie County Municipal Court, Dulin faces a pre-trial hearing on Dec. 5. A trial is scheduled for Dec. 13. Dulin was charged July 1 with driving under the influence when he was stopped along a turnpike about 60 miles west of Cleveland. Records show he refused a DUI test. He was released on a $400 bond. “This is an obvious last-minute smear campaign by the Democrats and their liberal allies at the Charlotte Observer,” Dulin said in a statement Monday. “I pled not guilty for a reason and look forward to my day in court.” Earlier this year Republicans sent mailers about a DWI that Democratic Senate candidate Chad Stachowicz had in 2008. It said he’d had a blood alcohol three times the legal limit. “Too irresponsible. Too reckless,” it said.https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article220784185.html

ACTIVISTS WANT INVESTIGATION INTO BOMB THREAT AT CHARLOTTE MOSQUE: A Muslim advocacy organization is asking for an investigation into what it says was a bomb threat against a mosque in North Carolina. The Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a news release it would like the alleged incident investigated as a hate crime. Police said someone called in a bomb threat to Muhammad Mosque 36 in Charlotte last Sunday. Communications director Ibrahim Hooper said at a time of attacks and threats targeting houses of worship, members of minority groups and national political figures, it's imperative that the bomb threat be investigated as a hate crime and the perpetrator brought to justice. The Washington-based civil rights organization is urging mosques and other houses of worship and faith-based and advocacy organizations to take extra security precautions.https://www.wral.com/muslim-advocacy-group-seeks-investigation-into-mosque-threat/17958925/

ISRAELI OFFICIALS DEFEND TRUMP OVER SYNAGOGUE MASSACRE: Israel's envoy to the memorial ceremonies for the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting victims says it's "unfair and wrong" to link the tragedy to President Donald Trump. Naftali Bennett, the Israeli minister for diaspora affairs, lauded Trump's support for Israel and his denunciation of anti-Semitism, saying: "With President Trump, we never have to worry if he has our backs." His comments late Tuesday came as Trump paid a visit to Pittsburgh amid accusations that the president's fiery rhetoric had contributed to the climate of violence. Top elected officials avoided him and one of the families of the 11 victims asked not to meet him. Israel's envoys to the United States and the United Nations have also tried to distance Trump from the attack.https://www.newsobserver.com/news/nation-world/world/article220883930.html

OKINAWA'S GOVERNOR, SON OF US MARINE HE'S NEVER MET, OPPOSES NEW US BASE: The bicultural, newly elected governor of the southern Japanese island of Okinawa plans to visit the United States with a message to the American people: Stop building a disputed military base and build peace instead. Tamaki took office Oct. 4 after campaigning for a disputed U.S. Marine air base to be moved off the island and for the American military presence on Okinawa to be reduced. The small island hosts about half of the 54,000 American troops stationed in Japan and accounts for 64 percent of the land used for U.S. military bases. His father is a U.S. Marine he has never met. His mother, who raised him on Okinawa, burned all his father's letters and photos, Tamaki recalled. But he would like to meet his father in the U.S. and hug him, he added. "I'd like to say, 'Hi, dad. How've you been?'" he said in English and Japanese, adding jokingly perhaps 100 people might come forward.https://www.wral.com/ap-interview-okinawa-leader-wants-americans-to-stop-us-base/17958849/

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